The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Actual News from Chechnya Issue 36 21.10.02 Chechen culture Chechen Language The chechen language Chechen, together with Ingush and Bats, belongs to the Veinakh group of the Iberian-Caucasian family of languages. The Chechen and Ingush languages have developed a written tradition. Not so the Bats language. The earliest description of the Veinakh languages is found in the Big Comparative Dictionary of Russian Empress Catherine the Great (second half of the 18th century.) The Dictionary presents about 400 Chechen words and their Ingush and Bats equivalents. Baron P.K. Uslar described the Caucasian languages on instructions from the general staff of the Russian Army. His voluminous "The Chechen Language" came off print in 1888. It contains a grammar of the Chechen language. The languages of the Veinakh group are the widest spoken of the Northern Caucasus. Ethnic Chechens and Ingushis can communicate without a translator. The idea of "veinakh" ("our people") brings them close together. The Bats people live in the Pankisky Gorge of Georgia. Their language has come under a heavy influence of Georgian, which is why neither Chechens nor Ingushi can understand it. The Chechen language is also spoken by the Chechen communities of Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Syria. The Chechen language brings together a number of dialects and tongues. The Chechen language of the written tradition rests on the Grozny dialect of flatland Chechnya. Works of fiction, newspapers and magazines, textbooks and scholarly treatises have been written in that dialect of the Chechen language. Classical fiction writings have been translated into it. It was not until 1925 that written Chechen switched over from the Arabic to the Latin alphabet. In 1938 it gave up Latin for Cyrillic. An unsuccessful attempt to return to the Latin alphabet was made in 1992. As they opened up new frontiers, the Chechens and Ingushis could not help getting in close contact with other ethnic communities. That is why the Chechen word stock as many foreign borrowings: up to 500 words from Georgian, up to 700 words from the Turk languages,a good number of Arabic, Persian, Ossetian and Daghestani words, and a great many words from the Russian language. In the 16th century, the Veinakh tribes moved to the Cossack-populated fertile flatland. Trade interests encouraged contacts between the Russians and the Veinakhs. New borrowings enriched the word stock of the Chechen language. English, German and French borrowings entered the chechen language via Russian: take the Chechen equivalents for "export," "meeting," "parliament," "tanz," "kuche,""mundschtuk,""avantguarde," "mousquet,""boillon," "taxi." Even the phonetic system of the Chechen language has undergone change. The /f/, /l'/, /shch/, /r'/ sounds entered Chechen on the coattails of new words such as a factory, a broom, a secretary and a teacher. Even though they are hard to pronounce, Chechen words sound pleasing to the ear. Here are some of the easiest and frequentest-used words of the Chechen language: Daimokhk - Fatherland Malkh - the sun (more... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=clanguageeng&row=0) Famous Chechens Sportsmen Khavazhi Khatsygov Europe 2002 boxing champ Grozny-born Khavazhi Khatsygov has claimed the junior flyweight title at the European boxing championship that took place late in July in the Ural city of Perm. K. Khatsygov who featured on the Belarus national team won all five bouts to beat Russias Gennady Kovalev in the finals with the scoreline 17:8. The boxers coach is Issy Amaev. His medal is the only gold in the Belarus teams tally. Russia fighters swept the tournament with a whopping nine gold medals, the biggest grab in the memory. Russian team pulled off an incredible performance. Ive never seen anything of the sort in all 45 years Ive been working in the Association, said Anvar Chaudri, head of Amateurs International Boxing Association. Eduard Khusainov, head of the Russian Boxing Federation, said that though there were no Chechen boxers on the Russian team at this championship, Chechnya had many good athletes in the game. He recalled advances made on major international rings by Taramov and Sibiev. Now the Federation is keeping an eye on famous Chechen boxer Khamzat Djabrailov as it pins hopes on him to reinvigorate boxing in the republic. The Russian Boxing Federation is ready to give go-ahead to any initiatives from Chechen boxing authorities. Many fingers are crossed in the republic for 19-year-old Alibek Dudaev. He has recently returned to his home country from Azerbaijan to where he moved in 1999. Fighting for Azerbaijan national team, he won the European under-19 championship and was a runner-up at the European under-21 tournament. Now Alibek is training in the Tolstoi-Yurt village under coaching of Ilyas Tukhoev. The coach termed a short-term goal for Alibek as qualifying for the Russian national team with a view to tap international arenas. (more about famous chechens... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=famouseng) Chechen cuisine Sweetmeats A nut halva (per 1000g.) Nuts 650g, honey 420 g. Fry slightly peeled nuts (walnuts, peanuts), put into boiling honey and mix. Put on a tray and leave it to cool. Serve in portions 75-100 grams each. Other kinds of halva: 1. Fry a mixture of corn and wheat flour in hot butter with sugar until thick. Put the paste on a tray, leave it to cool and cut into pieces. 2. To prepare noodle-halva fry ball-shaped noodles in hot butter, put onto a tray, top with honey or thick grape juice and leave to cool. 3. To cook nut-halva take young green nuts, boil them in grape or sugar syrup and leave to cool. more about chechen cuisine... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=kitcheneng) News from Chechnya 21 October 2002 Over 66 thousand Chechen refugees have returned from Ingushetia The issue of the return of Chechen refugees from neighboring Ingushetia has been under discussion at a session in Magas between the two republics governmental officials and Russian Presidents special envoy to the South federal entity. The officials has summed up what the Chechen and Ingush Government have done over the past three month to return the refugees to their homes. Though the results were regarded as a success, much is yet to be done on this score, including building temporary premises for the displaced people. According to the Chechen Governments refugee committee, 22.793 people are living in 7 temporary buildings in Chechnya and 17.410 more - in compact premises. A total of 27.340 people are listed as living in temporary premises in the republic and 27.564 in compact ones. There are 80.342 Chechen refugees in Ingushetia, 23.548 of them are in temporary premises and 37.309 in compact. 37 thousand are accommodated at their relatives and friends. Since the start of the year over 66 thousand people have returned from Ingushetia to Chechnya. (more News from Chechnya http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) 21 October 2002 Shelkovskaya region boosts ties with Kuban Cooperation between the Chechen region of Shelkovskya and the Krasnodar region is a bright example of Russias effective collaboration with Chechen regions. They interact in industry, farming, health protection, education, culture and sport. Prospects for promoting bilateral relations have been under discussion in the course of the recent visit of a Shelkovskaya regions delegation to Kuban. The trip was organized at the invitation by the local interior departments leadership and timed to coincide with celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Russias Interior Ministry. Kuban policemen have been serving in the area since 1999. The Krasnodar regions State Interior Department was the initiator of setting up a police officers training center. So young residents of the Chechen region can obtain a new profession without leaving it and be trained by qualified specialists from Kuban. Over the three years of working in the region Kuban policemen have proved themselves perfectly. The delegation included athletes who participated in all contests devoted to the anniversary in volleyball, football, tug-of-war and relay races. Audience has warmly upheld all the participants. Curiously, not only young officers but also general and senior officials took part. Audience was amazed to see 50-year old respectable athletes participating in the race. The celebrations wrapped up with a concert, in which Chechen guests were also involved. Them the delegation was given an opportunity to repose on the Black Sea resort of Gelendzhik. One of three members of the delegation who needed medical treatment immediately underwent an operation upon eyes, whereupon the others were taken to hospital. At the moment six residents of the Shelkovskaya region are preparing to leave for Kuban where they will get medical care. (more News from Chechnya... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) 20 October 2002 Investigation into the Grozny blast goes on The Interior department of the Zavodskoi district of Grozny has resumed its activity after the explosion on October 10th, in which 25 people were killed and nine injured. At a recent session the head of the Chechen Interior Department Said-Selim Peshkhoev has appointed 18 people in charge with duties of the killed officers. The building is planned to be restored within a month with help of funds allocated by the republics leadership and the Grozny mayors office. Mr. Peshkhoev says there are still two blasts causes - a terrorist attack and fuel leak explosion. Several people have been detained on suspicion of orchestrating the attack. Local investigators believe the act could have been the revenge by those who had to be discharged from the department. The head of the interior department killed in the blast Maghomed Sidaev, intended to hold staff cleansing in his department. On October 11th a Security Council emergency meeting was held chaired by the head of the Chechen Administration Akhmad Kadyrov. On top of the agenda were measures to bolster public security. Top military, servicemen and the head of the Prosecutor General offices chief department in the North Caucasus who attended the meeting reached decision to toughen selection of candidates for the Chechen police. One of the measures will be establishing attestation commissions that will bring together not only experts, but also public representatives of an area where future officers will be selected. Top military were instructed to draw up proposals on how to improve law enforcement bodies, and submit these for consideration at next Council meeting. Speaking before the Government on October 14 President Vladimir Putin asked Interior Minister Boris Grizlov to report back on the outcome of the investigation into the explosion in Grozny. Russian President is quoted as saying all suffered in the attack and families of the killed must be entirely provided with aid. (more News from Chechnya... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) 19 October 2002 Militants lose largest arsenal since start of counter terrorist operation Plans of militant leaders have been scuttled and lives of hundreds of civilians have been saved, said head of the Chechen administration Akhmad Kadyrov commenting the results of the operation staged by the federal troops in the village of Geldagan (Novaya Zhizn) in Kurchaloi district. Illegal armed formations have lost the largest arsenal since the beginning of the counter terrorist operation in the republic. The list of armories in the hideout is mind-boggling: 12 shoulder anti-tank grenade launchers, 20 radio-guided Fagot missiles, 10 machine-guns, 20 automatic rifles, 30 Mukha grenade-launchers, 7 sniper rifles, a big-caliber Utes machine-gun, 55 kilograms of plastid and TNT, 10 snooper scopes, 20 sets of NATO-styled camouflage uniform, and a large number of expeditionary troops outfit and various ammunitions. The location of the hideout was shown by amir of Geldagan detained by the Chechen police unit ensuring security of high-profile officials. According to the unit commander Ruslan Alkhanov, the cache was hidden in the backyard of a desolated house more than 5 meters under the ground. It contained so much weaponry as to last a special force detachment through several days. The arsenal was supposed to sustain militants commando detail which the detained said was going to stage terrorist acts against top officials and the military, said R. Alkhanov. Interrogations exposed a network of diversionary groups with connections beyond Chechnya as well. The detained also provided names and addresses of militants under his command. His gang has committed several resounding crimes, including an attack on the temporary police headquarters of Kurchaloi district last December. The Chechen administration is going to recommend the participants in the operation to the military commandment and the countrys leadership for awards. (more News from Chechnya http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=§ion=diaryeng) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chechen ethnos Medieval Nakh tribes and kingdoms The Chechens and Ingushis of the first half of the first millennium A.D. who lived on the northern slopes of the Caucasian Mountain Range were known as nakhchmatians, kists, durdzuks, gligvs, melkhs, khamekits, sadiks. One can still come across Sadoi, Khamkhoev and Melkh tribes and family dynasties in the mountains of Chechnya and Ingushetia. One and a half thousand years ago the people of Chechnya and Ingushetia who lived in areas bordering on Georgia and in Georgia itself professed Christianity. To this day one can see ruins of Christian churches in the mountains. Nearly the whole of the Thaba-Erda Church near Targim village in the Assinovsky gorge has survived. Experts say the church was built in the Early Middle Ages.The same period was marked by intensive ties between the mountaineers and the neighbouring and remote developed countries. Research carried out by the Abkhazian scientist Guram Gumba proves that the Myalkh Emperor Adermakh was married to a daughter of the Bospor tsar from the northern part of the Black Sea. Ties with Byzantium and Khazaria were as intensive. Chechens and Ingushes must have fought on the side of their Slav friends when Prince Svyatoslav of Kiev fought Khazaria and Prince Igor the Polovets invaders. Testifying to that are the lines from The Tale of Igors campaign, in which Igor, captured by the Polovets is offered an escape in the mountains, where Chechens, the people of Avlur, will guarantee him protection. In the 8th though 11th centuries major trade routes passed through the Khazar city of Semender, situated presumably in Northern Daghestan, to the Black Sea, the Taman peninsula and further on to European countries. Apparently, due to that route Chechnya got household items and works of art of rare beauty and tremendous skill. Another route that connected Nakhs with the outside world was the Daryalsky pass, which linked Chechens with Georgia and the rest of the neareastern world.The early Middle Ages witnessed the flourishing of stone construction in the mountains that Nakhs lived in. All gorges in the upper reaches of the Daryal, Assa, Argun and Fortanga boasted complex architectural structures made of stone, such as towers, castles, burial vaults, churches and shrines. Later on entire settlements- actual fortresses sprang up which to this day make people marvel at their splendour and architectural design. Many war towers were built on rock peaks and were practically inaccessible to the enemy. The architectural structures, viewed as works of art, could only appear due to the high level of industrial development and social and cultural life. (in detail... http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=etneng&row=6) Copyright CHECHNYA FREE.RU http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=news.media.chechnyafree http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com